Kotooshu wins All Japan Rikishi Championship

[Jonosuke 28]

At the 64th All Japan Rikishi Championship ("Zen Nihon Rikishi Senshuken"), tournament style one day event held on October 3, Sekiwake Kotooshu beat Tokitenku by hatakikomi in the final to win his first Yusho and received 2.5 Million Yen. Kotooshu defeated Futeno by okuridashi in the semi-final to advance to the final.

Last year's yusho winner, Yokozuna Asashoryu lost to Tokitenku by shitatenage in the first round.

In the Juryo tournament, Baruto won the Yusho.

Edited October 3, 2005 by Jonosuke

[Ryukaze 0]

Who beat Shoryu this year then??? Also these tournaments seem to have so much variety in regards to who wins yet strangely when it comes time to really put ur "balls to the wall" in "honbasho" only 1 man (Asashoryu) seems to come out on top consistently. hmmmmm (Holiday feeling...) (Chucking salt...)

Edited October 3, 2005 by Ryukaze

[madorosumaru 7]

nothing strange at all about it.

its hana-zumo.

some make no effort. most fights prearranged to give the "best" outcome.

naturally kotooshu was supposed to win this one just as hakuho was supposed to win in feb.

generates interest among the general public.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You're absolutely correct, Nishi. Not surprisingly, Baruto won in the juryo division. The two "upcoming" rikishi in the news somehow managed to win the tournament.

Osh defeated Tokitenku, who had beaten Asashoryu in the first round, in the finals.

He did a henka to the left at tachiai and slapped Tenku down with a hatakikomi. For his efforts, he won 2.5 million yen.

Asked whether he was going to the casino with the winnings, Osh replied, "No way. I never gamble. I'll lose it all and more. I'm going to send it back home to my family."

Ryu wasn't too upset with his defeat. His heart and mind were already in Vegas. "I'm really looking forward to tomorrow [when we leave]," he told the press. "I'm really lucky [in cards]."

To punctuate his good mood, his parting words were: "See you again," in English.

[ilovesumo 12]

So can we say that hana zumo is like an "authorized Yaocho" of the Kyokai, or has the word Yaocho itself a criminal touch, something bigger than just "acting"?

Are you able to understand this try of a question? (Chucking salt...)

[Dale 0]

So can we say that hana zumo is like an "authorized Yaocho" of the Kyokai, or has the word Yaocho itself a criminal touch, something bigger than just "acting"?

Are you able to understand this try of a question? (Chucking salt...)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

This isn't exactly "hana zumo" in the traditional sense. That's sumo done for

comedy. You'll see some as soon as I get Nishinoshima's Musoyama Danpatsu

movies put up on a web page (sorry- just too much work again today).

I think what was meant was that these kinds of events (including jungyo and the

upcoming Las Vegas "Championship") aren't competitions- they are entertainment

shows. The whole point is to please and delight the crowd.

Yaocho allegedly takes place during a honbasho- an event that is supposed to

be an _honest_ competition, whether it provides the maximum entertainment for the

crowd or not. That makes it very very bad :) Besides- people bet money on the

honbasho, but only the truly stupid would bet on one of these events...

Dale

<shameless request> I can't attend the Vegas thing, but I'd sure like an e-banzuke

from it if they are available. It would look nice next to the one from Vancouver. But

do they even make them anymore? I couldn't find any at Natsu Basho. Well, I'll

happily reimburse anybody who might be able to buy one for me. </shameless request>

Edited October 4, 2005 by Dale

[Doitsuyama 1,259]

I can't attend the Vegas thing, but I'd sure like an e-banzuke

from it if they are available. It would look nice next to the one from Vancouver. But

do they even make them anymore? I couldn't find any at Natsu Basho. Well, I'll

happily reimburse anybody who might be able to buy one for me.

request>

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well, at the Aki basho there certainly were e-banzuke available on the stands in the Kokugikan, so they are still in production. I can't tell you for Las Vegas of course since I'm not attending that one as well.

[Kaikitsune Makoto 210]

some make no effort. most fights prearranged to give the "best" outcome.

I have been thinking about the possible reasons behind this and nothing makes sense really. Who really thinks it stirs a magnificent extra interest if these tournaments are pre-arranged for "suitable" outcome? Do I have some pervert logic if I say that this has no better PR-effect than would be for a normal tournament without any pre-arranged "Hmm..lets give Kotooshu the yusho to boost up expectations even further!"-stuff?

Who actually gives a rat's ass about who wins these tournaments? I mean in the big picture, what significance does that have?

Also from practical point of view, who decides who loses on first round and who doesn't? I could understand that semifinals and so could be arranged so that final would be between the most interesting rikishi remaining but then again why was there Tokitenku? To many sumoforum members Tokitenku is very interesting rikishi but not to the big mass of Sunday-sumofans who know maybe sanyaku by name and that Takamisakari is odd.

Wouldn't it be cool if rikishi would just step onto the dohyo and do their best or not without any "pre-arranging" which has no significance in the big picture? Maybe Uchidate should run Kyokai and kick any idiot oyakata with proneness to these kind of arrangements to try out chanko restaurant career or uncork their rocking chair at home?

In a nutshell, I don't understand this system of pre-arranged tournaments at all. I don't understand what purpose does it serve and all I can see is the negative aspects of it. If such pre-arrangement system exists, it automatically lowers the threshold to arrange stuff outside these in-between basho tournaments too, it pisses off sumofans who want to see real sumo (by default, if rikishi wants to take it easy, so be it, but not damn pre-arrangements by "authorities").

What I do understand is that these in-between basho or hana-zumo events or whatever type are good places to try out more lively sumo and go for some extra spice on the dohyo to entertain the audience. Since losing isn't that big a deal, it enables more creative sumo but I still don't understand WHY should the result be pre-arranged. Sumo itself can be slower and stranger but the whole idea of arranging the outcome is the biggest tragedy of all.

Well it would make sense to take it easier against local rikishi like for example in Aomori jungyo, all Aomorian rikishi won their bouts so that viewers could have happy ending just like in Hollywood movies where test audiences sometimes complain that the ending wasn't happy enough and then the ending is changed into more happy ending and in this case Aomorian people proud of their boys would have happy smile on their face and might give sumo positive thoughts which then promotes sumo there. But then again in Korea Kasugao did pretty well but he didn't win though and lost on both days earlier on.

Wakarahen. I hope someone beats Kotonowaka with tsuriotoshi on his last day on the dohyo to honour the veteran and sumo by not disgracing the match by not going all out. Should be more of an insult than a sign of respect not to go all out against a retiring rikishi.

[Asashosakari 20,272]

I have been thinking about the possible reasons behind this and nothing makes sense really. Who really thinks it stirs a magnificent extra interest if these tournaments are pre-arranged for "suitable" outcome? Do I have some pervert logic if I say that this has no better PR-effect than would be for a normal tournament without any pre-arranged "Hmm..lets give Kotooshu the yusho to boost up expectations even further!"-stuff?

Who actually gives a rat's ass about who wins these tournaments? I mean in the big picture, what significance does that have?

Also from practical point of view, who decides who loses on first round and who doesn't? I could understand that semifinals and so could be arranged so that final would be between the most interesting rikishi remaining but then again why was there Tokitenku? To many sumoforum members Tokitenku is very interesting rikishi but not to the big mass of Sunday-sumofans who know maybe sanyaku by name and that Takamisakari is odd.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well, my impression is that the foreign events are probably mostly pre-arranged, while the one-day tournaments in Japan are much less so, if at all.

On the foreign tours: I imagine it's not about getting additional PR, but about preventing negative ones. Given that these tournaments are supposed to spread sumo interest among people who usually haven't paid close attention to the sport before, I think it would look pretty bad if a random mid-Maegashira were to win. So the bouts, while perhaps not completely fixed, are probably at least "influenced" in such a way to achieve a desirable outcome.

I don't think that's necessarily the case with domestic tournaments. The Japanese audience knows that a) rikishi often won't compete with full strength, and b) nobody is completely unbeatable. They also know that these tournaments aren't to be taken as seriously as the honbasho, so there's no perception problem if somebody like Tokitenku reaches the late rounds. Anyway, if there's any fixing going on in these events (and I'm not convinced there is), I wouldn't be surprised if it's at the urging of the companies sponsoring the prize money, not the Kyokai itself.

Jungyo tours are probably different yet again, since (as you're saying) they often seem to be more about sending the audience home happy than putting on competitive bouts. And there's no prize money involved, so nobody loses anything if bouts are set to go a particular way.

[Kintamayama 47,297]

Disclaimer!! These are mere speculations based on nothing more than my gut feeling.

I think a distinction should be made regarding the three types of non-basho tournaments- jungyo, Cohen and One- day- sponsored tournaments. I am not mentioning Danpatsushikis because it's obvious that these are not serious matches.

In jungyos, the afternoon tournaments are of the "light" variety, wherein the rikishi do not go all out so as to not get injured unnecessarily. I wouldn't say the outcome is known beforehand, but it's pretty much "expected" that the Yokozuna (when there are more than one) trade wins between themselves on a daily basis, and that the high rankers or locals pretty much dominate. No one sees this as all the adjectives Kaikitsune used, but just getting up close to the rikishi makes the fans' day.

The koens will put the famous rikishi in the limelite, as that is who the foreign fans are paying to see. You will see more flamboyant kimarites here to amuse the gaijin.

The one-day tournaments are for a lot of money, and I'm convinced are not "fixed". Whoever wants to go all out for them, does so. I think Asa, as he himself said, was much more geared towards Vegas, and didn't really mind losing to his compatriot, who could really use the money. That said, I don't think anyone would go bonkers and all out to win that either, regardless of monetary compensation.

These non-basho things should not be taken seriously, or seen as a threat to sumoudou. They each serve their purpose, well at times.

Edited October 7, 2005 by Kintamayama

[Kaikitsune Makoto 210]

Well I suppose there are good arguments from each viewpoint.

That said, I don't think anyone would go bonkers and all out to win that either, regardless of monetary compensation.

These non-basho things should not be taken seriously, or seen as a threat to sumoudou. They each serve their purpose, well at times.

They are not a threat to sumodou or other dous as such but it is just so peculiar that there would be any benefit of arranging the results and I still think that if there is pre-arranged system in some part of ozumo, then the threshold is automatically lower to implement parts of it in honbasho too because there is the experience and mindset that exists. Therefore ideally there should be very strict attitude towards any "arranging" and if Kyokai allows that, then it just feels alarming.

It is an interesting question whether Kyokai is corrupt in some ways. How healthy it is that the whole Kyokai is ran by former rikishi who have long history together and who compete against each other as oyakata dealing out money to each other.

Looking forward to official revelation of the reasons and principles behind these arranged bouts :-)

"Maegashira could win. That is bad. Have to arrange so they won't!"

"If Kotooshu (or the hottest rikishi of any given time X) wins, it will be good for next tournament's interest"

"Rikishi X has served well, he will be given this win"

"Biggest sponsor wants their rikishi to excel" (but we can't let Takamisakari win because there are limits)

"Kyokai is a big family. We take care of each other"

"Other reason"

Well, who knows...I guess there is some sensible reason for such system then. Maybe I need more life wisdom to understand better.

Kyushu basho comes soon.

[Kintamayama 47,297]

So what is Las Vegas after all? a Koen? jungyo?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It's the same thing. Koen is an overseas jungyo, unless you are Jewish.